Two updates within the first few minutes of each other? MADNESS I TELL YOU, MADNESS!
Whatever. Anyway, just watched the Season Finale of Psych this morning. I am quite furious. So I'll be writing all day today, I think... let's hope I get somewhere with this!
Ari gasped as the arrow zoomed past her, running across the small field of flowers, through the trees, around the pond. Her fear was justified - it seemed some Skeletons wanted to avenge the death of their friend...
She let out a loud screech, another flying through the air and sticking in the tree she had only just passed. For being so terrifying, they're not very good shots...
She jumped down from a slight gap in the ground, opting to climb through the ravine. It wasn't an intelligent idea - but as she saw it, she had the same chances of survival here as she did there. Maybe even more here - she had been the only climber in the family...
She slipped on her special gloves, taking a deep breath, searching for something to grab onto - on the other side. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, hearing the tickitytakticof bones rubbing and banging together. She snapped her eyes open once more, beginning her sprint. She jumped through the air and time seemed to go in slow motion. An arrow nicked her side and she hissed, but tried her best to keep focused, making a grab for the ledge. Her hands firmly gripped it, but when another arrow hit its mark, she screamed and released the ledge in an automatic response. She gasped, looking up as her only chance slipped from view, falling deeper into the cracks. She hadn't bothered to check what was at the bottom of this thing, and perhaps if she had, she wouldn't have been so worried. Her body splashed in a large river, deep and wide. Relief filled her as she realized that yes, she'd survived, and she was alive. She was wet, but alive. She could dry off. She looked up through the clear water, watching the sun rise and set the Skeleton aflame. She smiled, swimming to the surface, letting out a gasp for air as she broke through. She watched the sunrise for a moment before closing her eyes again, finding an incline against the wall and sitting on it, leaning her head back on solid, dry ground, her hand gingerly touching the wound on her back. It wasn't very bad - she was sure it wasn't even worth getting upset about. The bleeding was already beginning to stop and it seemed to miss anything vital.
Now, it was time to figure out where the hell she was...
Vreagon frowned, walking back and forth, running a hand through his hair. Mor watched worriedly, leaning against his sword. "She'll be fine," he whispered, though it sounded as if he were attempting to talk himselfinto believing it. Vreagon nodded.
"I know." he responded easily, scratching his nose. He was dirty from the work he'd done all night, from the mining he'd just come out of to find that the girl who had gone out for more supplies for tools had not returned. She had departed close to evening, but had promised that she wouldn't go far... had something happened to her? Did she just wander out too far and get lost? Or did she get chased away, and would return to them later? Even so, the nervousness he felt simply wouldn't cease. "...I'm going to go find her." Vreagon stated, rushing into his house and pulling various things from his chest, listening to his brother stepping into the room slowly.
"...I'm coming with you." Mor stated simply, shrugging and lifting his sword, staring at the reflection with a slight sigh, looking at Vreagon with a grin. "If she's in trouble, perhaps two would be enough to help."
Vreagon stared before his own slow smile crossed his features, fading quickly as he donned armor and grabbed a bow and arrow as well as his sword, looking at his brother. "...let's go. If she's in trouble, every second counts."
"Now, how did I get myself into this situation...?" Ari muttered bitterly, heaving in another breath as she climbed over the edge of the gap, rolling on soft grass. She laid there, exhaustion seeping into her very bones, through her and around her. She kept her eyes closed, wincing with every breath she took, her chest rising and falling with her breathing efforts. She could hear pigs and chickens, cows and sheep. They all sang in a loud song of apathy, munching on the grass. She almost felt comforted by it, by the pure normalcy of the actions. But today wasn't normal - not in the slightest. She sat up slowly, yelping in pain, effectively putting an end to the song. She waited for a moment, waiting for it to return - once it did, she moved again, making her way to her feet. If she had any plans of getting home before dark, she had to move quickly. Her shirt clung to her flesh, and her ripped up shoes were no good anymore - she huffed and slipped them off, ditching them in the place she'd stood from, frowning at the puddle of blood where she'd been hit.
First, to figure out where she was...
Vreagon cursed loudly, slamming the sword down as he stared at the scene in front of him. Mor took his shoulder, gulping audibly. "...It's alright. Doesn't mean she's-"
"I know. But she's out there, bleeding, and she's so far away from home, I don't know if she even knows where she's going."
Mor nodded at the voicing of his own thoughts, biting his lip and crossing his arms. "...Wait..."
"What?"
Mor looked up, watching birds fly overhead, cries of frightened fowls echoing in the forest. "..." Vreagon was already sprinting in that direction, clearly catching Mor's hint.
"...Alright. Here we go..."
"Damn it! Get back here- Shit!" Ari cursed loudly, watching the pig escape her. She crossed her arms, the deep frown sharpening her features before she scoffed, leaving it alone. "Fine. Be that way, I can starve for a while," she snapped, but she figured she wouldn't have been able to eat it, anyway - not only did she not have a fire to cook with, she didn't have anything to cut into the thing to begin with.
Damn.
Well, she supposed it could have been worse... she had to be close to home. She couldn't have gone THAT far, could she?
"Ari!"
The girl whirled around, spotting Vreagon running toward her, out of breath as he dropped his weapons, slamming into her and pulling her into his arms. She blinked, surprise flooding her eyes. "How... how did you find me?" she murmured, looking about her - the sun was nearly below the horizon. Mor looked uneasy as he, too appeared, looking left and right.
"We should go." He said quickly, drawing his bow and walking slightly crouched, making as little sound as possible. Vreagon and Ari followed his example, one with his sword and the other with her knife.
Ari froze as the tickitytakticing went off again, but in more than one wave - Vreagon looked back, patting his brother's shoulder - the younger man nodded and drew the arrow back, rising up from his crouch to turn, sharp eyes searching the forest around them. He could hear it again to his left and right, and Ari lifted herself up as well, running to move beside Mor, rushing forward and slamming into the Skeleton before it could prepare to strike.
Vreagon shouted out a warning, and hell broke loose. Tens of Skeletons - she didn't know exactly how many, and she didn't care to find out - began screaming angrily, running at the trio of humans. Ari stared in shock before deciding to simply drop the battle stance and run. Mor and Vreagon clearly agreed with her, hiding away their weapons and sprinting to keep up with the fleeing girl.
She could hear the hissing of a Creeper before the telltale explosion, the sudden wave of the power throwing her from her feet, hitting the ground in front of the other two. They barely jumped over her, turning and helping her back up, pulling her away from danger. "Run!" Ari screamed, hearing the screeching of Spiders, the crunching and crashing of Creepers, tickitytaktic's of Skeletons. She feared looking behind her, knowing what she'd find, but her worries were now turned to their little town. How could they go back and expect these things to stay outside the fences? They could simply knock them down.
Only one solution came to mind.
Keep running.
Ari caught up with Vreagon, pacing herself next to him. As soon as the three jumped over the fence and into their homes, Ari began pulling things out of her private chest in the opposite corner to the bed, her panicked eyes widening.
"Ari, what the hell-"
"We need to run!" she shouted, her eyes wild with fear.
"What about that stone we found? It's too heavy to carry anywhere, but we don't know what it is, it might be useful-"
"But it won't save our asses, now will it! Just leave it here, it doesn't matter anymore! That thing was trouble from the very beginning, and I'm not messing with it, wherever our new home will be! We have to run!" Ari wiped her face as it dripped with sweat before heaving the bag up to her shoulders. "They will destroy everything!"
Vreagon listened to the screaming of Spiders, the moaning of Zombies, the tickitytaktic of Skeletons, the hissing of Creepers - it made a cacophony of sound, deafening him to the point of confusion. Mor seemed to agree with the girl, as without a word, he returned to them from his home with a bag slung over his shoulders, bouncing in place and occasionally looking outside.
Vreagon took the hint, biting his lip. He didn't want to leave his home again. Too many times he'd been forced to relocate, and he had only just begun to get attached to this new place...
But he didn't want to die.
He grabbed his pack and stuffed his most important items within it, a few diamonds and food wrapped in paper. Ari seemed to have the same idea, her bag packed near to the brim with necessities. Ari escaped from the door and called Duck out from his little home - he followed without hesitation, waddling to her outstretched arms as she bent down. She held him securely and despite the odd expressions from Mor and Vreagon, carried him to the edge of the river.
They ran.
It was difficult to find a place to get across without swimming across the river, as none of them had made a boat - but it was doable. Vreagon jumped in first, Ari taking a moment to admire his determination before following suit, Mor watching her back as he soon sunk into the river. None of them looked back, even as they climbed into the Jungle and could hear the shrieks as buildings were decimated.
They set up camp in the Jungle, praying that nothing would decide to come find them. They ate wet cooked fish (the boys had told Ari that it was better than nothing, which was a statement the girl simply couldn't deny), stayed awake for a while longer waiting for danger, before the fell asleep huddled against one another, Ari in the center with her head on Vreagon's shoulder. He shifted uncomfortably for a moment, unfamiliar with the close contact and feeling quite awkward. His brother only chuckled and leaned against Ari, using her as warmth. Vreagon followed his lead, their arms clasping around the girl as they pushed closer to her, shivering in the cold air, Duck's worried clucking falling upon deaf ears as he snuggled under Ari's arms.